Sustainability in Management Education

Guest Editors:
Mark Starik, George Washington University
Gordon Rands, Western Illinois University
Alfred A. Marcus, University of Minnesota
Timothy S. Clark, Northern Arizona University

Sustainability, or multifaceted long-term quality of life, may be the most complex yet vital phenomenon of our time.   Environmental, social, and economic sustainability changes, from local to global scales, appear to be connected to most every significant human action, whether individual, organizational, or societal.  From natural resource extraction through manufacturing and service delivery processes to material and energy reuse and waste, for most of their activities in the natural environment, humans significantly impact themselves and the rest of the natural world on an ongoing and sometimes destructive basis.  Fortunately, our species has recently become aware of the human and natural crises we have collectively generated, has identified a wide range of options potentially available to address these crises, and to a lesser extent, has begun to implement these solutions, though with less urgency, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness than may be required for satisfactory societal and environmental outcomes.

Businesses and business schools, the primary sources of management education, are paramount among those organizations that must accept responsibility for causing, as well as for developing possible approaches to addressing, these sustainability crises.  In recent years, organizations, in general, have advanced sustainability goals by reducing energy consumption, conserving water supplies, improving air quality, fighting disease, preserving endangered species and ecosystems, and relieving poverty and other community ills.  Business schools and their universities and associations, such as the Academy of Management, have followed, and sometimes led, this general sustainability trend by developing and executing programs to green their curricula and research efforts, construct energy-efficient buildings, install or upgrade recycling systems, contract for renewable energy, purchase environmentally-preferable equipment and supplies, and work with one another and with surrounding communities to advance sustainability values.

The purpose of this special issue is to assess the learning and educational implications of these phenomena for both business schools and related institutions of higher learning, as well as for businesses and other organizations.  In this vein, we encourage submissions that address sustainability education in academic and/or workplace settings.  Consistent with the format of Academy of Management Learning & Education, empirical and conceptual articles for the Research & Reviews section, and appropriate material for the Essays, Dialogues, and Interviews section are welcome.  Some research questions, issues, and interview topics that contributions might address, among many others, are:

• What sustainability topics are most important to address in business curricula, and/or organizational training and development programs from the perspective of both business and society?  Do these differ by region, culture, country, or level of education?
• How can environmental, social, and economic sustainability be integrated so that students and/or employees, including managers, appreciate the relationships among these phenomena?  How can education help enhance this “triple bottom line” approach and outcome?
• How can the often technically complex topics of energy conservation, climate change, biodiversity, and similar more natural science-based subjects be most effectively presented to business students and/or employees who have not been exposed to or have even purposefully avoided these vital topics in their past educational efforts?
• How can business students and/or employees effectively learn to appreciate the diversity of sustainability-related scientific opinion but not be stymied into non-decision and inaction because of this diversity?
• What roles do the increasing number of sustainability- and management-related theories, models, and frameworks play in informing business and sustainability education and/or training and development? How can these be best transmitted and applied to “real-world” sustainability challenges?
• How can sustainability as an educational topic be used to identify both the similarities and differences among societal sectors (business, government, and nonprofits), within and among organizations in industries, and within and among cultures?
• How can the long-standing business topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, globalization, competition, and collaboration be effectively integrated with sustainability topics into business-and-sustainability curricula? How can sustainability be integrated throughout the MBA and BBA curricula and/or organizational training and development programs?
• What techniques inside and outside the classroom (e.g. lectures, discussions, site visits, guest speakers, simulations, case studies, video, projects, and on-line activities) have proved successful in developing sustainability awareness, knowledge, and skills in business students and/or employees?
• What sources of information are available and what media are most useful to provide students and/or employees a well-rounded sustainability-oriented learning experience? How can sustainability learning goals, including the advancement of sustainability, be best assessed?
• How can both the recruitment and placement of business-and-sustainability students be enhanced at the bachelors, masters, executive, and doctoral levels of business education? How can management students be best connected to sustainability practitioners?
• How can those who have engaged in sustainability education and/or training and development best receive acknowledgement for such experience and be benefitted in organizational assignment, career development, and promotion decisions?
• What roles can and should executives, managers, human resource personnel, and consultants play in sustainability education in the workplace? What roles can and should university presidents and provosts, deans and department chairs play in advancing sustainability education in academia? What best practices currently exist? How common is such involvement at present? How can such involvement be encouraged?

Submissions should be received by September 30, 2009, and should adhere to the “Style and Format” guide for authors that can be found at www.aom.pace.edu/amle. Manuscripts should be submitted at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/amle, and designated under Manuscript Type as “Special Issue-Sustainability 2010”.  Pre-submission discussion of and consultation on potential submission ideas and topics is also welcome. For further information, please contact the lead guest editor, Mark Starik, at starik@gwu.edu.

All submissions will be subject to a rigorous double-blind peer-review process, with one or all guest editors acting as action editor, and final approval coming from the journal editor.  Invitations to revise and resubmit will follow initial submissions in approximately 2 months, with a final deadline of June 30, 2010 for revised submissions.  All authors will be invited to participate in an action workshop on the topic at George Washington University during the fall of 2010 after publication of the special issue.

Download pdf version (click here)

[ AMLE Home ]